


Noodles after Night Shift

by takawbelle



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Crime Fighting, F/M, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:27:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24481264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/takawbelle/pseuds/takawbelle
Summary: “So, Blue,” she said in a low but casual tone as she caught up with him, “things have gotten too easy, eh?”“Yeah, Red. Really easy. I was like, ‘I’m doing cardio every morning just for two minutes of action every night?’” Zuko’s voice sounded faraway behind his mask. She can imagine his face, though, puckered with disappointment. No one can scowl as sourly as Zuko.
Relationships: Blue Spirit/Painted Lady, Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 170





	Noodles after Night Shift

**Author's Note:**

> I’m not a big fan of Blutara but as my dear friend and fellow Zutara fan wickedlancoster requested a Blutara fic for her birthday, I had to try. Happy birthday, dude!

Tonight starts – as in _really_ starts – with a fist to the face. 

Granted, it was Zuko’s fist to the thug’s face, but Katara wasn’t too keen on the details. Fist, meet face. Face, you are compelled to meet fist.

Yet, it was over before it truly began. The thug reeled from Zuko’s uppercut before spinning and crumpling to the garbage-lined ground. Zuko towered over the trembling man and intoned hoarsely, “Before you steal food off the plates of those too weak to fight back, remember who stalks these streets to give justice.” 

In the shadows, Katara rolled her eyes. Zuko couldn’t help being _so dramatic_.

Zuko snatched the little leather pouch from the man’s nerveless fingers and sauntered outside the alley onto the main street. She glided after him, throwing the man an amused smile under her conical straw hat, and a seasoned healer’s advice: “Blend some myrrh and ginseng for the bruises. You’re lucky it was only a few silver coins. If you stole more, you’re looking at a week’s worth of pain.” The man could only groan. Whether it was in thanks or in fear, Katara was not sure.

“So, Blue,” she said in a low but casual tone as she caught up with him, “things have gotten too easy, eh?”

“Yeah, Red. Really easy. I was like, ‘I’m doing cardio every morning just for two minutes of action every night?’” Zuko’s voice sounded faraway behind his mask. She can imagine his face, though, puckered with disappointment. No one can scowl as sourly as Zuko. 

Without warning, he sharply entered an alley, narrower than the one they left. Katara followed him with nary a rustle of her dress. He pushed back a battered door which surprisingly gave way immediately. “Remind me to commend Toph on her minute attention to detail. These hinges are lovingly well-oiled. Not a creak,” he remarked. 

Having a wealthy businesswoman as a friend has it perks, such as gaining access to random safe houses scattered across Caldera City. Toph bought the houses as an “investment” which, in Beifong-speak, meant that she got bored and went on a real estate buying rampage. True, she might have heard Katara grumble that she’d love to end the night slurping noodles if only she had a place to change out of her Painted Lady garb. Not that Toph would expressly tell Katara she knows who’s behind the plunge in crime in Caldera City. She did, however, carelessly throw a bunch of keys to Katara “if she wanted a place to change.”

Zuko and Katara went to their respective rooms. She swiftly rinsed the white and red paint from her face and arms, staring as the pink water swirled down the drain. Even after five years of aiding the Blue Spirit, each night still brought a rush of blood to her head. When the world is at peace, there’s nothing much to do but descend to the level of a beat cop. 

But she doesn’t mind. Not when she’s with Zuko.

“Hey, Red? Can I come in now?” 

“No need to call me by my code name anymore, _Fire Lord Zuko_ ,” she said drily as she opened the door. He was already dressed in commoner’s clothes, hair freshly washed. A bag dangled from his hand. Even without any outline showing through, she knew the bag contained his mask and black garb. 

“Oh, but I love to keep up pretenses, my lady. I suspect you prefer me as a vigilante rather than a monarch,” he grinned with a bow. 

“I prefer you as you are, mask and crown be damned,” she whispered as she sauntered over to him. His hands settled on her waist in anticipation. She could still smell the night air on him. 

“And who am I, then?” he whispered back. His face was close, so close, and it made her heart thud loudly as it had done all those years ago when he first kissed her on Ember Island. 

“You’re mine, of course.” She guided his face down to hers and their lips met, soft like the summer rain that began to patter on the roof. But, as their kisses often go, this one began to escalate when his hands tightened on her waist. They each gave and took freely before she broke the kiss and stepped back, smirking.

“Your favourite noodle shop closes by two. I’m hankering for some miso after that kiss.”

He frowned. “I imagined that my kisses would leave you breathless, not hungry.”

She was already making her way to the door when she fixed him with a long stare. “We do need some nutrition if you want to end tonight with some ‘cardio.’” He eagerly bounded after her in long strides. 

Yes, it didn’t bother her to roam the streets at night like some beat cop. Especially when she’s with Zuko.

A/N: While not a particular fan of Blutara, this fic is a birthday gift to my dear friend, sapisato/wickedlancoster. Check out her artwork inspired by this one-shot: https://sapisato.tumblr.com/post/625632038296371200/night-shift-any-blutara-fans-out-there-costumes


End file.
